
Middle School Education
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The Union County Public Schools has nine middle schools and one specialty school serving grades 6–8 located throughout the county. The middle school program strives to provide for the unique needs of the young adolescent while helping the student make the transition from elementary to high school.
The department develops and provides information resources such as handbooks and curriculum guides for parents and the public. Other functions of this department include facilitating events such as the Scripps Spelling Bee and Math 24.
If you have questions, please contact Casey Rimmer, Executive Director of K-12 Curriculum and Instruction, at 704-296-0832, ext. 4033.
Content Areas
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English Language Arts
The goal of English Language Arts is to produce students who are College and Career Ready in Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Language. As students advance through the grades and master the standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language, they are able to exhibit with increasing fullness and regularity these capacities of the literate individual.
They demonstrate independence.
Students become self-directed learners, effectively seeking out and using resources to assist them, including teachers, peers, and print and digital reference materials.
They build strong content knowledge.
They read purposefully and listen attentively to gain both general knowledge and discipline-specific expertise. They refine and share their knowledge through writing and speaking.
They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline.
Students adapt their communication in relation to audience, task, purpose, and discipline. They set and adjust the purpose for reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use as warranted by the task. They appreciate nuances, such as how the composition of an audience should affect tone when speaking and how the connotations of words affect meaning.
They comprehend as well as critique.
Students are engaged and open-minded—but discerning—readers and listeners. They work diligently to understand precisely what an author or speaker is saying, but they also question an author’s or speaker’s assumptions and premises and assess the veracity of claims and the soundness of reasoning.
They value evidence.
Students cite specific evidence when offering an oral or written interpretation of a text. They use relevant evidence when supporting their own points in writing and speaking, making their reasoning clear to the reader or listener, and they constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence.
They use technology and digital media strategically and capably.
Students employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use. They tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline. They are familiar with the strengths and limitations of various technological tools and mediums and can select and use those best suited to their communication goals.
They come to understand other perspectives and cultures.
Students appreciate that the twenty-first-century classroom and workplace are settings in which people from often widely divergent cultures and who represent diverse experiences and perspectives must learn and work together. Students actively seek to understand other perspectives and cultures through reading and listening, and they are able to communicate effectively with people of varied backgrounds.
Resources
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Mathematics
On June 2, 2010, North Carolina adopted the Common Core State Standards in K-12 Mathematics and K-12 English Language Arts released by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers. With the adoption of these state-led education standards, North Carolina is in the first group of states to embrace clear and consistent goals for learning to prepare children for success in college and work. The full Common Core standards can be viewed at the Core Standards website.
6th Grade
In Grade 6, instructional time should focus on four critical areas:
- Connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division and using concepts of ratio and rate to solve problems;
- Completing understanding of division of fractions and extending the notion of number to the system of rational numbers, which includes negative numbers;
- Writing, interpreting, and using expressions and equations; and
- Developing an understanding of statistical thinking.
7th Grade
In Grade 7, instructional time should focus on four critical areas:
- Developing an understanding of and applying proportional relationships;
- Developing an understanding of operations with rational numbers and working with expressions and linear equations;
- Solving problems involving scale drawings and informal geometric constructions, and working with two- and three-dimensional shapes to solve problems involving area, surface area, and volume; and
- Drawing inferences about populations based on samples.
8th Grade
In Grade 8, instructional time should focus on three critical areas:
- Formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations, including modeling an association in bivariate data with a linear equation, and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations;
- Grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships;
- Analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem.
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Science
Union County Public Schools believes that engaging students in inquiry-based instruction is a critical way of developing a conceptual understanding of the science content that is vital for success in the twenty-first century.
The process of scientific inquiry, experimentation and technological design should not be taught nor tested in isolation of the core concepts drawn from physical science, earth science and life science. A seamless integration of science content, scientific inquiry, experimentation and technological design will reinforce in students the notion that "what" is known is inextricably tied to "how" it is known.
A well-planned science curriculum provides opportunities for inquiry, experimentation and technological design. Teachers, when teaching science, should provide opportunities for students to engage in "hands-on/minds-on" activities that are exemplars of scientific inquiry, experimentation and technological design.
Curriculum Standards
An integrated approach is used in all North Carolina Public Schools. Each middle school student will learn science from all branches of science; Physical, Earth and Life.Physical Science (P) Earth Science (E) Life Science (L)
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Social Studies
Our mission is to ensure that our school district prepares students to become productive 21st-century citizens. We strive to accomplish this goal by giving students an understanding of history, government, economics and other social sciences. We actively engage students in the learning process and prepare them to become life-long learners and problem-solvers in a global society.
Middle School Social Studies State Standards
Resources
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World Languages
World language skills are key to global competence, national security, career advantages and travel. World language skills also improve first language skills.
Languages Offered
The languages offered vary per middle school but might include:
- Chinese
- French
- Spanish
Program Models
World Language programs vary per school for the length of study and languages offered. Programs vary between:
- Exploratory courses
- Beginning courses
- Continuing courses
- High School Level One courses for high school graduation credit
High School Level One is available for high school graduation credit at some middle schools for Chinese, French or Spanish.
World Languages Resources